Hoisting cradle



B. F. FITCH HOISTING CRADLE Filed Dec. 5, 1950 6 Sheets-Sheet l FIG' IDec. 29, 1931. B. F. FITCH HOISTING CRADLE Filed Deo. 5, 195o 6Sheets-Sheet 2 B. F. FITCH HOISTING CRADLE Dec. 29, 1931.

Filed Deo, 5, 1950 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 FI EN' FIG.

Dec. 2 9, 1931. B. F, F|TC|| 1,838,139

HOI S T ING CRADLE Filed Deo. 5, 1930 6 Sheets-sheet 4 i l v Y?, mw I nn l i Q/v Q n. Q I N l u T Q I I HNS I I Il i i I l I II I I I I I l n lu I l I I l l (33,. I 4 I l? l w I I I I I I I I u (D Il Q NN I LU u "uI H l H i IL I I I I I I I I I Q l g QQ mm gl QQ Q \\3 -1 I WIJ@ I l Q/1 Q l QA I l w I w-` l 1 *I I y I n l i NR L L a v Dec. 29, 1931. B. F.FITCH 1,838,139

HOISTING CRADLE Filed Deo. 5, 1930 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Dec. 29, 1931. B. F.Fl'TcH HOISTING CRADLE Filed Deo. 5, 1930 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 19%@ 351g A)'{l/U dammi,

Patented Dec. 29, 1931 U STA T E S BENJAMIN F. FITCH, OF GREENWICH,CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO MOTOR TERFIINALS COMPANY,OF WILMINGTON,DELAWARE, CORPOAGIT 0F DELAVTARE 'HOISTING CRADLE Application le'dDecember 5, v1930. SerlaINo. 500,301.

This invention relates to apparatus for connecting a load to a liftingmechanism, land is particularly useful in connection with the handlingof freight in demountable automobile bodies. My invention providesdexible lifting cables with load-engaging means arranged to be connectedwith the body at four points, two on each side, whereby the body may bewellsupported for lifting while maintained in its horizontal position.

More particularly the invention is designed to raise demountable bodieskhaving supporting hooks adjacent their eaves and to that end provides acradle or floating frame vhaving shackles or loops pivotally mounted onthe frame so that they may swing beneath the hooks. Means areprovided'for swinging all the shackles to idle position 'so that whenthe cradle is lowered the shackles vwill stand adjacent the hooksbut outof contact therewith, after which the shackles maybe swung in thereverse direction to cause them to engage the hooks, whereupon thecradle may be raised with the body.

The shackles maybe arranged-to depend normally by gravity in an 4activeposition and be swung to idle position by a pull on a cable, or otheractuation of anoperating device; or they may be arranged so that theyare normally inactive and ali-actuation of the operating device requiredto bring them to active position.

The features above referred to and others contributing to the efficiencyof my hoisting i cradle will become apparent from the followingdescription of preferred embodiments illustrated in the drawings.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of Va hoisting apparatusincluding a traveling crane suspending my cradle, this view showing alsoan rautomotive truck with a demountable body which the' cradle shacklesare engaging; Fig. 2 is a side elevation on a larger scale, andintermediately broken away,

of one form of my cradle and the upper portion of a demountable bodyengaged thereby; Fig. 3 is an end view of the cradle intermediatelybroken away, as indicated by the line on Fig. 2; Figs. 4, 5 and Garevertical sections of the cradle on planes indicated by thecorrespondingly numbered lines yon Fig. 2, these views `being all brokenout intermediately; Fig. 7 is a plan of a somewhat different embodimentof my cradle, showing a direct attachment of the ends of the liftingcables, instead of the employment of fall blocks; Fig. 8 is a sideelevation of the embodiment of Fig. 7; Fig. 9 is a side elevation on alarger scale of a portion of Fig. 8, showing one of the shackles and theadjacent guide; Figs. 10 and 11 are vertical sections on correspondinglynumbered lines of Fig. 8; Fig.'12 is an axial section along thesupporting bolt of any of the shackles of Figs. 7-11; Fig. 13 is a sideelevation of a modilied form of my cradle; Fig. 1% is an enlargedsectional detail of the anchorage of one of the lifting cables, asemployed in Fig. 13; Figs. 15 and 16 are details in vertical section onthe correspondingly numbered rlines on Fig. 13; Fig. 17 (sheet l) is asectional elevation, illustrating a shackle with a modified arrangementof supporting sheaves.

Referring first to Fig. 1, 10 indicates an automotive truck and 11 ademountable body adapted to rest thereon, this body being provided witha base, side walls and a roof and having one or more doors as indicatedat 12. To enable the attachment of lifting mechanism, I provide fourhooks 15 adjacent the eaves of the body which may, if desired, becontinuations of vertical metal straps attached to the sides and sillsas illustrated in Fig. 1, or `may be attached in another manner. Asshown, the hooks extend longitudinally and face toward opposite ends ofthe body.

In Fig. 1, 20 indicates a suitable superstructure having tracks 21 onwhich travels a bridge crane 22. This bridge crane has suitable hoistingmechanism, not specifically shown, but operating to elevate four liftingcables. Two of these cables are shown in Fig. 1 at 25 and 26 dependingin bights, and there are two other cables just like them directly behindthem, similarly designated and appearing in Figs. 4L and 5 respectively.Each of the four cables carries in its bight a movable pulley 30, theaxis of which is connected with a cradle and about to be described.

My cradle has an open horizontal rectangular frame shown as made up oflongitudinal vchannel bars 32 forming the two sides, and transverse endbars 33, which may also be channel bars. Rising from the outer sides ofthe longitudinal bars, in the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 5, are metalstraps 34 which carry the axles 35 of the movable sheaves 30. Atransverse strap 36 carried by one of the vertical straps 34 and havingflanged ends form a cable guard for the sheave.

It is to be understood that one reach of each of the cable loops and 26is drawn upward or lowered simultaneously by the hoist mechanism on thebridge crane and thus the four sheaves are raised or loweredsimultaneously, thereby raising or lowering the cradle frame Whilemaintaining it horizontal.

The cradle frame is provided with four depending clevis-like loops orshackles designated and 41, in Figs. 1 to 5. These hoops are pivotallymounted on a suitable rod 42 extending through the longitudinal bars ofthe cradle frame. The loops 40 are preferably located directly below theaxes of the movable sheaves 30. Accordingly, the supporting rod 42 ofeach loop passes not only through the channel bar of the frame, but alsothrough the sheave straps 34, there being also preferably anintermediate filler block 38 mounted in the groove of the channel tomake asolid connection. The rods 42 may be journalled loosely in theframe and have heads 44 and nuts 45, as shown. In any case they swingeasily on their pivots.

In the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive, the shackles 40 and 41normally stand in the vertical position suitable for engaging andraising the hooks 15 of the body. To swing the loops outwardly to clearthe hooks, I provide the following mechanism. The loops 41 are providedwith upwardly extending arms 47 preferably on the inner side of theloop, as shown in Fig. 5. On the other hand, the loops 40 are providedwith eyes 48 below their supporting shafts 42, as shown in Fig. 4'.

A suitable hand cable, indicated at 50 in Figs. 1 to 3 leads upwardlyfrom a readily accessible point beneath one end of the cradle anddivides into two cables 52 and 53 (Fig. 3), which pass over sheaves 54and 55 car- 3 ried by an end member 33 of the cradle and thence lpassesoutwardly toward theside of the cradle and around sheaves 56 and 57 gwhereupon each section 52 or 53 of the cable is again divided along thesides of the cradle, as indicated at 58 and 59 in Fig. 2.' Each cablesection 58 runs to an eye inthe upper end of the arm 48 of the loop 41,while the cable section 59 runs to the eye 48 in the arm 40 below itspivot.

It results in the above described embodiment, that if the operator pullsdown on the cable 50, he will thereby swing outwardly, (that is, towardthe ends of the cradle), all four shackles 40 and 41, thus bringing theminto the position shown in broken lines in Fig. 2. This is approximatelythe position of the shackles when the cradle is in its lowered orengaging position. Thereafter, when the shackles are low enough to swingbeneath points of the body hooks 15, the operator releases his hold onthe cable 50 and the shackles swing by gravity into position to lieagainst the sides of the hooks, and then, as the cradle is raised, thehooks automatically pass into the recesses behind the hook points asshown in Fig. 2. The hooks retain this position without attention by theoperator so long as the Weight of the demountable body is on the cradle.

When it is desired to free the described cradle from the body, the bodyis lowered onto a suitable support and the cradle lowered slightlyfurther, carrying the shackles below the points of the hooks 15,whereupon the operator pulls down on the cable 50 and l swings the loopsto their inactive position, enabling the cradle to be raised free of thebody.

To guide the cradle into accurate position directly over the body andalso to limit the descent of the cradle, I may provide suitable guidesand stops on the cradle adapted to engage the roof of the body. Theseare illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 6 and comprise flat plates 60 securedto the side bars of the cra- J dle and depending vertically for adistance and then flared outwardly as shown at 61. On the inner side ofthe plates, angle clips 62 are secured to them in position to engage thebody when the cradle has been lowered the maximum distance.

In the embodiment being described, as the cradle is being lowered froma. position approximately over the body, the flaring extensions 61 ofthe stop guides on one side of the body or the other engage the body andcam the cradle in the direction to centralize it with the body, so thatthe plates 60 pass downwardly onto opposite sides ofthe body, asillustrated in Fig. 6. Vhen the clips 62 engage the roof of the body theengaging portions of the shackles are below the points of the hooks 15,and therefore are adapted to swing by gravity into position against thefaces of the hooks directly below the opening thereof; then as thecradle is raised, these loops slide into the openings of the hooksassuming the position shown in Fig. 2.

In the embodiment of Figs. 7 to 12 inclusive, the four supporting cables27, 28 depending from the traveling crane are attached at their endsdirectly to the cradle. I effect this attachment by means of downwardlyfacing clevises which I attach to the cradle frame by the samehorizontal bolts which hold the depending shackles 80 and 81. As bestshown vin Figs. 10, 11 and 12, the horizontal bolts v82 passintermediately through the side bars 32 of the cradle and fillingblocks89 in the channels of these side bars. Outside of this reinforcedframe member the bolt 82 passes lirstthrough eyes in the two dependingarms of the clevis 70. Beyond this, .the horizontal fbolt 82 passesthrough eyes in the upper ends of the shackles. Beyond the eyes of theseshackles th-e bolt is .provided with a head 83 on one side and a nut 84on the other, a suitable cotter pin locking the nut.- This constructioneffectively pivots both the clevises and the shackles to the cradleandinsures the cable being directly over the shackle, to give a directtransmission of stress from the cable to the hook of the .demountablebody.

lThe shackles 80and 81 are made comparatively large and bowed out attheir sides as shown in Figs. 10'and 11, so that they may readily engagethe hooks of the body even though the hooks may be considerablydistort-ed or turned sidewise from the normal position. It is desirablethat the shackles swing freely on the pins 82, and to insure this Iprefer to make an axial bore 85 in the pin leading from a grease nipple86, this bore having openings 87 within the eyes of the shackle.

To attach the operating cable .portions 58 and 59 to the shackles, I'prefer to mount u pwardly extended eye rods 88 in the most distantshackles 81 to which the ends of the cables 58 are attached andlaterally extending eye rods 89 in `the loops of the shackles 80 nearerthe cable 50 for attachment of the cable portion 59. These two eye-rodsare preferably threaded Vat their inner ends and screwed into Ytappedholes in the proper parts of the shackles.

As shown in Figs. 7 and 8, I have attached tension springs 90y and 91 tothe eye rods of the shackles, these springs leading away kfrom the endof the cradle where the hand cable 50 is located and attached at theirdistant ends as indicated at 92 to the side frame 32. These springstherefore tend lto swing the shackles normally into inactive position,that is, a position inclined from the vertical.

When the cradle, being described, has been lowered to position, theshackles stand adj acent the open sides of the body hooks, but out ofcontact therewith, being held in idle position against stops 69 weldedto the frame bars 32. Now, a downward pull on the cable 50 swings thenear shackles away from the operator and the far shackles toward theoperator, and thus causes them to come into the open-ings of the hooks,and thereafter, as the cradle is raised, the shackles pass completelyinto the hooks. The operation therefore is the reverse of that shown inFigs. 1 to 6, where the shackles stood in the active position 4and werepulled to idle position by the cable 50.

To `position the cradle accurately, as it is being lowered, I provideguides 65 serving the purpose of the guides 60 heretofore explained, butin the piesent instance, engaging the hooks of the demountable bodyinstead of the roof thereof. As shown particularly in Figs. 9 and 10,these guides 65, (which are welded to the side bars 32), have outwardlyflaring lower portions 56 adapted to engage the outersides of the hooks.Each guide also has a flanged portion at right angles to the body of theguide terminating in a downwardly diverging portion 67 which is adaptedto engage the back of the hook. In this embodiment I limit the downwardmovement of the cradle, by means of the side bar 32 engaging the top ofthe hook itself, as shown in Fig. 9. l rlhe guiding arrangement is verysimple and effective. The cradle is simply lowered until it comes to astop restingon the hooks and the shackles are at the same time.automatically positioned.

Figs. 13 to 16 illustrate another modification of my cradle, wherein theshackles are counter-weighted so that they tend normally to swing toidle position, and the hand cable draws them to active position wheneverdesired. In this embodiment, I have shown the single supporting cables27 and 28 connected by U-bolts 75 with the longitudinal side bars of thecradle, these side bars being channel-shaped and housing filler blocks76,

and the legs of the U-bolts 75 passing through the flanges of thechannel bar and intermediately through the liller blocks, nuts '77 beingscrewed onto the ends of the U-bolts. The supporting pins 98 of theshackles 9a and 95 pass through these same liller blocks 76 between thelegs of the U-bolts and thus centralize the shackles with the supportingcables.

rIhe shackles 94- and 95 which in this case are mounted on the bolts 93are similar to the shackles heretofore described, in that one of themhas an upwardly extending arm 97 and the other has an eye 98 beneath itspivot, for

the attachment of the hand cable branches.

In this case, however, the shackle adjacent the operator carries the arm97 and the more distant shackle the eye 98. The operating cable 50 isarranged to pass upwardly over the sheaves and outwardly to extendlengthwise of the cradle as before, but in this case it then passeslongitudinally in a single strand 58 on each side, which is anchoredfirst to the arm 97 of the shackles 94 and then passes to the eye 98 ofthe distant shackle 95.

effect of these counter-weights is to tend to swing the shackles in adirection away from each other.

It results accordingly in the construction of Figs. 13 to 16, that whenthe cradle is lowered to the limit, as controlled by suitable guides andstops 60, 62, the shackles 94 .and 95 will automaticallyl swing out ofthe hooks and remain in this idle position. This frees the cradle fromthe body and the cradle is in position to be elevated without the bodyand be lowered over another' body. IVhen it has been lowered, theoperator pulls downwardly on the cable 50 and thus swings inwardly thetwo shackles 94. and 95 .against the action of their counterweights sothat they come against the edges of the hooks 15; after which, when thecradle is raised, the shackles will assume the proper position withinthe hooks as illustrated in Fig. 13. It will be seen that when theshackles are engaged there is a continuous vertically aligned supportfrom the cable 27 or 28 with the body straps carrying the hooks.

A result similar to the construction of Figs. 7 or 13 may be obtainedwith the construction of Fig. 2 by attaching a weight to the lower endof the vertical cable 50, this Weight being sutcient to hold theshackles normally in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. Then,when it is desired to latch the shackles, it is only necessary for theoperator to lift the counterweight by pull. ing up on the cord 50. Suchcounterweight illustrated in Fig. 1 by the dotted lines 110.

The direct attachment of the cables as illustrated in Figs. 9 to 16inclusive allows the cradle to be drawn up closer to the hoist framethan with the sheave arrangement shown in Figs. 1 to 5. However, I mayem- @3 ploy sheaves and reduce the head room for the cradle by mountingthe sheaves directly on the bolts which carry the shackles. Thismodification is illustrated by Fig. 17, which indicates a.r bolt 112which is mounted in the side bar 32 and the fall block 39 set therein,

and is loosely embraced near its ends by the shackle 115, andintermediately carries rotatably one or more sheaves 116.

IVith the arrangement just described, I

' can obtain a powerful littingaction at a point be disregarded. Toswing the shackle 115,

suitable arms and eyes located in correspondence with arms 88 and theeyes 89 of Figs. 10 and 11 may be employed. In Fig. 17, I haveillustrated for example, the eye 119 corresponding to the eye 89.

The arrangement of the mechanism so that the shackles are held normallyin idle posivtion allows a simpler lowering operation of the cradle, asno attention need be paid to the shackles in such lowering. On the otherhand, it requires more care by the operator for him to be sure that theshackles are engaged before the cradle is. raised. Each methodtherefore-with the shackles normally active or normally inactive-hasadvantages of its own with some related disadvantages, and probably onesystem will be better for one location and the other systcm for another.Both are included within my invention. A f

It will be seen that, whether the arrangement of Fig. 2, Fig. 7 o r Fig.13 is employed, in each case I swing all four shackles at one time bysimply pulling down on the hand cable, this swinging being either tofree the shackles from the body andb position them to engage a new body,or to swing them into engagement with the body. In either case, thedevice is easily operated.` Furthermore, it will be noticed that if oneshackle engages a hook all 'tour shackles will necessarily engage hooks,and thus there will be no chance ci2 raising a load without its beingconnected at the desired four points. If springs or counter-weights,tending to swing the shackles to idle position, are employed, the elfectof the same is, of course, overcome as soon as the lifting action of theraising cables has drawn the shackles up into the hooks themselves. l Y

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination of `a frame,four. depending loops pivotally carried thereby, each loop being adaptedto engage a hook carried by a demountable body, two on each side, andcables leading from the loops to the end of the cradle and arranged tosimultaneously swing the four loops on their pivots, two of them, whichare located on opposite sides of the frame, moving in the oppositedirection from the other two.

2. The combination of a cradle frame, four load engaging members carriedthereby, two of said membersfhaving arms extending above their pivotsa-nd two of them having means below their pivots for attachment of acable, and a cable device connected with the arms of the first mentionedmembers and with the second mentioned members Jelow the pivots forsimultaneously swinging said members in opposite directions.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination oi an openrectangular frame, four depending loops pivotally carried thereby two oneach side, each loop being adapted to engage a hook carried by ademountable body and so arranged that gravity tends to hold them intheir inactive position and means for simultaneously swinging said loopson their pivots into active position.

4. In a hoisting cradle,fthe combination of an open rectangular framehaving a pair of parallel side bars, fourload engaging memberstransversely pivoted thereto, two on each side, and means operable froma single point at one end ot the frame and connected with all of theload engaging members for simultaneously swinging the load engagingmembers on their pivots in vertical planes parallel with the cradlesides.

5. The combination of an open frame having parallel side bars spacedwell apart, a pair of loops pivoted to one side bar, a pair of loopspivoted to the other side bar, said loops being adapted to engagesimultaneously four hooks carried by a demountable body, and mechanismconnected with each loop for swinging them simultaneously lengthwise ofthe side bars.

6. In a hoisting cradle, the combination of a floating frame, fourdepending shackles carried thereby two on each side, and means operablefrom a single point for simultaneously swinging two of the shackles onopposite sides in one direction, and the other two in the oppositedirection.

7. In a hoisting cradle, the combination of a rectangular frame, meansfor attaching raising cables thereto at four points, two on each side,load supporting devices pivoted to the frame at points in registrationwith the supporting cables, each pivot being by means ot a transversebolt common to both the attaching means and the supporting device, saidload supporting devices being adapted to engage four hooks on ademountable body beneath the cradle, and means for swinging the engagingmembers on their pivots.

8. In a device of the character described, the combination of an openrectangular frame, four depending loops pivotally carried thereby two oneach side on transverse pivots, each loop being adapted to engage a hookcarried by a demountable body and so arranged that gravity tends to holdthem in one position and means for simultaneously swinging said loops ontheir pivots into another position, one` of said positions being activeand the other inactive.

9. In a hoisting cradle, the combination of a horizontal frame havingside bars, means for connecting lifting cables thereto. four body-engaging depending loops pivotally carried by the side bars of the frame ontransverse pivots, counterweighted arms on the respective loops tendingto swing them in one direction, and cable means for simultaneouslyswinging said loops in the opposite direction.

10. The combination with a rigid cradle frame, transverse cross boltsmounted in the frame, pivoted loops on the cross bolts adapted to swinglengthwise of the frame to engage the hooks of a demountable body,sheaves connected to the cradle adjacent the cross bolts, and hoistingcables around the sheaves.

11. In a hoisting cradle, the combination signature.

BENJAMIN F. FITCH.

